What is "lemon law"

n. (context legal idiomatic English) A law dealing with defective items, especially automobiles, and consumers' rights.

Lemon laws are American state laws that provide a remedy for purchasers of cars and other consumer goods in order to compensate for products that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. Although there may be defective products of all sorts ranging from small electrical appliances to huge pieces of machinery, the term "lemon" is generally thought of as applying to defective vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles.

These vehicles and other goods are called " lemons". The federal lemon law (the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) was enacted in 1975 and protects citizens of all states. State lemon laws vary by state and may not necessarily cover used or leased cars, and other goods. The rights afforded to consumers by lemon laws may exceed the warranties expressed in purchase contracts. Lemon law is the common nickname for these laws, but each state has different names for the laws and acts.

There are two types of warranties. Express warranties are usually statements in writing such as those provided by the manufacturers in owner's manuals and other written sales or advertising materials, or by a sample or model. Implied warranties are broader in scope and assure consumers that the retail product would meet certain minimum standards of quality whereby the product is fit for use for the purpose intended. In each type the manufacturer assumes the liability and responsibility to correct the defect or to repurchase or replace the product. Typically, the existence, scope and consequence of express and implied warranties is a matter of state law, usually covered by Article II of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Federal lemon laws cover anything mechanical. The federal lemon law also provides that the warranter may be obligated to pay the prevailing party's attorney in a successful lemon , as do most state lemon laws.